After two years of interruption due to the pandemic, all the cinemas of the world found themselves at the Marrakech festival. A member of the jury chaired by Paolo Sorrentino, Diane Kruger succumbed to the singular flavor of the spiciest of 7th art celebrations.
Paris, we hardly know his name. Elsewhere, he is a demigod. Ranveer Singh is Bollywood’s most bankable actor. Married to another superstar, Deepika Padukone, fashion icon, he can raise the crowds with a smile. The proof in Marrakech, where he is as adored as in his native India: on the red carpet of the International Film Festival, where he comes to receive a special prize, he eclipses even Patrick Bruel, usually greeted by frantic cries.
Dressed in light, microphone in hand, Raveer Singh sings and dances. A swarm of assistants never leaves him: hairdressers, make-up artists, press officers, of course, but also a boombox attendant (portable speaker) to make his life a permanent musical comedy. Diane Kruger, in sequins from head to toe, stares at her, eyes wide. “I’m amazed at his popularity. It is truly amazing,” she admits. Paolo Sorrentino, president of the jury for this 19th editionis also speechless.
It is not an easy task because, when judging films, one can hardly be objective
Diane Kuger
Diane Kruger knows her role as a juror by heart. She was in Berlin, Cannes, Venice… “It’s not an easy task because, when judging films, it’s hard to be objective”, she admits. She, the actress capable of acting in all languages – or almost –, recognizes herself in this festival which highlights the 7th art of the five continents. Above all, Marrakech gives pride of place to new talents. Only first or second works can compete. “I’m not looking for the perfect film, explains Diane Kruger, who, more than once in her career, has trusted new filmmakers. But rather a certain poetry, a freshness. »
Diane Kruger in the hall of the Es Saadi Palace, Wednesday November 16 just before a private party.
© Alexandre Isard / Paris Match
She also regrets that the selection is “a little too dark”, as if the artists were worried about the future or traumatized by these years marked by the pandemic. However, the health crisis which had prevented the festival from being held since 2019 seems a distant memory. In Marrakech, the heat has returned. And not only on the thermometer, which is close to 30°C. We kiss, we hug, we talk about cinema until the end of the night…
The “Pinocchio” revisited by Guillermo del Toro creates the event during the opening ceremony
No time to take a dip in the swimming pool or get lost in the souks, the day of a member of the jury is busy. “We go to see two or three films a day, not counting official obligations. » Including interviews, gala evenings, previews. The “Pinocchio” revisited by Guillermo del Toro, expected on Netflix for the holiday season, creates the event during the opening ceremony. The master of the fantastic offers a reinterpretation of the tale of Collodi, a major text of Italian literature, far removed from the well-meaning standards of Disney. “I loved it, reacts Diane Kruger. Even if for the moment, I don’t think I will show it to my daughter. »
Little Nova, whom she had with “The Walking Dead” actor Norman Reedus, her companion since 2016, is only 4 years old. She accompanies him on all his trips, recently in Poland for two months of filming, or even in Marrakech. “We moved to France for a year and our American nanny didn’t want to come with us. So my mother temporarily takes over. »
Actress Tilda Swinton, winner of an honorary award.
© Alexandre Isard / Paris Match
Maria-Theresa Heidkrüger, a bank employee in a town in Lower Saxony, has seen her life change since her daughter’s first successes in early 2000. “She travels with me all the time, so she discovers more landscapes than she had never seen one before. Diane Kruger is not the only one to have come with her family. Virginie Efira and Niels Schneider, usually so discreet, appear hand in hand. Unlike the other star couple, Leïla Bekhti and Tahar Rahim, who, if they came together, only appear separately. But they don’t hesitate to give each other knowing glances when they see each other in the distance.
A festival is always a moment of grace for artists.
Diane Kruger
In the hall of the Mamounia, a Marrakech palace where celebrities have taken up residence, Princess Margaret appears. Or rather the one who interpreted it in the first two seasons of “The Crown”. Haughty port, neat bun, good manners… Even in “real life”, Vanessa Kirby, also a member of the jury, seems all in majesty. Diane Kruger tells us lip service that she has never watched the series that made her famous. “I am not interested in crowned heads”, justifies the one who was Marie-Antoinette in “Farewell to the Queen” (2012). Which doesn’t stop her from admiring Vanessa Kirby and her other fellow jurors. She only knew Tahar Rahim and Paolo Sorrentino, for whom she dreams of playing. When asked if they had the opportunity to discuss future projects, she dodges: “Maybe, who knows…” Before adding seriously: “A festival is always a moment of grace for artists, because it allows you to meet other actors, directors. Last night, for example, I had a drink with Jim Jarmusch. It’s not in New York, in our daily lives, that it would have happened. »
The Moroccan public gave a triumph to Bollywood star, Ranveer Singh.
© Alexandre Isard
Could the director of “Coffee and Cigarettes” be the most sought-after personality at this festival? You have to see how James Gray, also acclaimed filmmaker, turns into a groupie when being photographed alongside him for Paris Match. “It’s Jim Jarmusch guys! The biggest! I would like that, on the photo, one understands oh how much I admire it! Jarmusch remains impassive behind his eternal dark glasses. Stoicism and sunglasses, also the equation of Isabelle Huppert, who, all dressed in Dior, poses in the corridors of the hotel. Black dress with hood and tawny hair, she looks like the Madonnas of the Renaissance.
Our business is changing, that’s for sure.
Diane Kruger
We find Diane Kruger a few hours before the preview of her next film, “Marlowe”, directed by Neil Jordan. “I’m quite excited because I’m going to discover it this evening for the first time, at the same time as the public”, she slips into the gardens of La Mamounia, sipping a mint tea. This detective film, in the pure Hitchcockian tradition, takes shape as a declaration of love for old Hollywood. A blessed time when dark rooms did not suffer from a deficit of hearing. “People have not yet returned to the cinema. We were talking about it the other night with Paolo and it’s true that it’s worrying, analyzes Diane Kruger. I don’t have a solution to this problem. Our business is changing, that’s for sure. »
Directors Farida Benlyazid, who received the festival’s tribute, and Laïla Marrakchi, member of the jury.
© Alexandre Isard
Yet at nightfall, Jemaa el-Fna square, the beating heart of Marrakech, hope is reborn. For the thousands of people who gather in front of the big screen where, every evening during the festival, a feature film is broadcast, the cinema remains a party. “There is a tradition of storytelling in this square. I am happy to come and tell a story there”, declares a lyrical Laurent Lafitte, before the screening of “Dad or mom”. Gad Elmaleh presents “Les Minions 2. Once upon a time Gru”, an animated film in which he lends his voice to the villain. The child of the country, “back at home”, is given an ovation like a rock star.
I’m happy but I can’t rejoice
Iranian filmmaker Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi, director of “Dark Knight”
“Already the end? I’m a little sad to leave, ”says Diane Kruger as she walks onto the last red carpet of this edition. The jury unveils its prize list, including the Gold Star awarded to Iranian filmmaker Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi for “Black Knight”: “I am happy but I cannot be happy”, he says after dedicating his trophy to “women who fight for freedom”. The actress Tilda Swinton is rewarded with a special prize given by the multi-palmed Ruben Ostlund, but also by Honor Swinton Byrne, her daughter, who surprised her with her presence. “Long life to the cinema, long life to the epics on the big screen, long life to the difference”, exalts the actress, upset.
On stage, presenters and winners all have a tender word for Mélita Toscan du Plantier, advisor to the president of the FIFM Foundation and ambassador for this event, which celebrates its anniversary on November 19. The festival, created in 2001 on the initiative of King Mohammed VI, has once again fulfilled its mission: mixing genres, voices and points of view. Without snobbery, but in a spirit of exchange and curiosity, for the love of cinema. 
Diane Kruger. Make-up: Norman Pohl – Hair: Mathieu Laudrel / Leïla Bekhti. Make-up: Lorandy, Charlotte Tilbury – Hair: Mathieu Laudre
Find all our photos of the stars in Marrakech: At the Marrakech film festival, the stars sparkle